Mystery
by Fae Gem Whiteberry
Summary: Ratings guide tells me this is an M. "He wanted to go home and sleep, not investigate too-powerful beings dangerously close to West Gates." This one will be confusing, not in chronological order. There are pairings, but mostly as side jots to the story.
1. Chapter 1

Parings will include KakshixIruka, NarutoxSasuke, probably some others, and there'll be confusing parts with them, but it'll [hopefully] all make sense in the end. I own none of the characters except for mine, nor the canon. Thoughts and flames welcome, but thoughtless flames will merely be used to cook my bacon and keep me warm during the winter. Enjoy!

o0o

Kakashi was exhausted. Not physically, but his mind begged for rest. He had been taxed with delivering a message to one of the more secluded villages – a place where mental capacity had unfortunately been lacking, and every third legal term had to be explained. Very slowly and thoroughly, multiple times. Now, with this chakra he was feeling, he wanted to run himself into a tree. It could be his daily facepalm, only slightly larger than usual, and he felt it might be necessary. He wanted to go _home_ and _sleep_, not investigate too-powerful beings dangerously close to West Gates.

He found the source next to a fast-paced stream crowded by trees, in the form of a little girl. She was small, long-limbed and emaciated in her too-big cargo pants and tank-top. They looked ill-fitted to the point that they probably belonged to someone else, and poorly hidden weapons helped to leave awkward and obvious lumps. She appeared to have more senbon tied into her hair than actual hair, and they seemed to be the cause of a gash that ran from her right eyebrow to her chin, trailing blood down her face and neck.

Standing over her was what appeared to be a particularly large species of leopard, hardly a head shorter than him. It eyed him skeptically, prowled around him in circles a bit for show, then stepped up to his back and pressed its nose between his shoulder blades, pushing him forward. When it had his toes brushing her knees it stepped forward without him as if to crush the girl's skull, but instead it fell into the gash on her cheek, sealing it as it went. The resounding chakra in the air sank into her skin along with the scar, leaving her face unblemished.

Regardless of what kind of chakra she had or how it manifested, not even Naruto healed that fast. It left Kakashi torn between deeming her dangerous and taking her into the village for medical help. In the end he picked her up and settled her as gently as he could on his shoulder. Her hip bones dug into his shoulder, causing him a small thudding pain every time he took a step, and it helped solidify his decision. He would take her to see the council if need be, but he would make sure she got medical help as well. Besides, if he had left her there the ANBU would have found her, something that could only result in her forced and permanent comatose or death.

o0o

Kakashi gaped under his mask, glad that the council couldn't see it.

"You want me, an inappropriate, mentally scarring shut-in who hates children, to take in a mentally unstable thirteen-year-old with rampant chakra and unknown alliances?"

"Yes. Not only did you find her, you are the only person available at this time that could effectively contain her if she decided to turn against us. You will determine if her allegiances can be gained, and if she can be trained as a shinobi for Konoha."

Kakashi thought about arguing more, but remembered how the council could be as stubborn as certain blond-haired children he knew, and decided he didn't need the headache. Either way, his evening was lost.

o0o

As it turned out, his evening was not lost. When he took Sukoshi home she was still unconscious, and didn't wake up till Iruka got home after treating Naruto to ramen. Iruka seemed surprised to find Kakashi with his mask of, but not to find the young girl sleeping on their couch.

"I thought you didn't take it off with guests in the house."

"The council is making her stay with us. She'll see me without it sooner or later. But for now, dinner. You're serving an extra person tonight."

"Yes, dear," Iruka said mockingly, and was awarded with a kiss on the cheek for his troubles.


	2. Chapter 2

Thoughts and flames welcome, but thoughtless flames will be used to roast marshmallows for smores and cuddle next to. I own nothing but what is mine. Enjoy!

o0o

"Hello."

Team Seven, Naruto and Sakura slightly more visibly than Sasuke, jumped, and Naruto turned around to gape at Kakashi.

"You- You're not late!"

"No shit, dumbass," Sasuke said, smacking Naruto upside the back of his head.

"Hey!" Naruto rounded on Sasuke, ready to punch him, but Sakura grabbed the collar of his shirt and stepped on his toe.

"Be polite, Naruto," she said with a falsely cheery smile. "Kakashi-sensei brought a guest."

Naruto and Sasuke turned back to Kakashi skeptically.

Kakashi smiled serenely under his mask, his eye crinkling. "Children," he said, "This is Sukoshi. She'll be training with us until Hokage-samma sees fit for her to move on."

"But sensei," Sakura said, a bit quieter. "She's just a little girl."

"Yeah!" Naruto cut in, abruptly righteous. "She didn't even graduate from the academy with us!"

"She has gone through a different test, and will likely not participate in the Chuunin exams when the time comes. She requires a different kind of exam."

"If she's so special then why don't they put her with Neji's team?" Sasuke asked, slightly put out that he was no longer the most silent and mysterious person in the group.

"The council has asked me to watch her until she can take care of herself. If she were to train with Neji's team, you would too."

Naruto shuddered, and a despairing look crept briefly across Sakura's face.

"And since we're not training with Neji's team, we'll have to get on with today. I've decided that it's been a while since the bell exercise, and we should have a review."

Naruto groaned as Kakashi handed the two bells to Sukoshi, saying, "I don't want to fight a little girl."

Sukoshi shot him a withering look, then examined the bells in her hand. She turned to Kakashi and raised an eyebrow.

"It's simple, really. You have two bells. The three of them are to steal them from you if they want lunch. My only rule is that you may not hospitalize anyone."

Sukoshi eyed Team 7 critically for a moment, before nodding at Kakashi and vanishing.

Kakashi allowed his eye to crinkle in a smile and held out his hand for their lunches.

o0o

Sakura found Sukoshi first, good with chakra as she was and seeing as Sukoshi's was so recognizable. They sat in not uncomfortable silence, watching the sun filter down through the leaves. She expected the younger girl to do something, ask her some question, but she stayed quiet, so Sakura did as well.

Sasuke found Sukoshi next. He hid in the trees above them and listened to Sakura hum softly to herself while she picked at the grass, and frowned. What was Sakura doing?

His attention was gravitated back to Sukoshi as she shifted, and Sasuke found himself shifting as well to dodge kunai. 'Can't be helped,' he thought, and launched himself at the pair.

Sukoshi lunged from her crouched position, catching Sakura around the waist and depositing her several yards away.

Sasuke scowled at her and they both dodged forward, dancing around each other's flying limbs and sharp objects. Not long after Naruto rushed into the fray, literally, taking both Sasuke and Sukoshi to the ground. It was a fist fight for all of about seven seconds before Sukoshi extracted herself. Naruto and Sasuke untangled themselves from each other, then had a small conversation behind turned backs before turning back and starting to circle their opponent. They continued like that for a while, probably for show, and then attacked from opposite directions. They threw kunai, followed by letter bombs, which she dodged, and, when they were close enough, lunged forward to punch her at the same time.

This, they discovered, was a bad idea. She caught their wrists, using their momentum to turn her body without moving her head. She gathered chakra close to the senbon in her hair, and whipped her head around to meet her body, releasing the chakra as she went. Hundreds of senbon flew threw the air, accompanied by two bells. Sakura watched them fly, one embedding itself in a tree, the other digging a miniature trench through the ground. She picked the one out of the ground, thinking that'd been easier than she thought it would be. If she'd stolen from Naruto, Kakashi-sensei might have been angry.

Sukoshi cursed under her breath as Sakura disappeared through the trees with a bell. So far neither of the boys had noticed, but the dark-haired one wasn't half stupid, and the blond-haired one wasn't as stupid as he probably let people think. But the blond one, he could be dangerous. Especially with the way the chakra in his stomach interacted with hers. She had a feeling that if she so much as touched him with chakra in her hand, someone would explode.

As soon as Naruto backed off a moment to gain a difficult angle, Sukoshi pulled back three of her senbon and set them circling around his head. He stopped and looked at them suspiciously, and Sasuke paused to assess the danger. It was long enough for Sukoshi to charge her hand and catch him across the back of his head. He went down a couple seconds later.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, alarmed. "Kakashi-sensei said no serious injuries!"

Sukoshi shot him a condescending glance and pulled the second bell out of the tree. She left the senbon circling Naruto and strolled further into the forest, ignoring his yells for her to come back. She needed a quiet place to sit and think.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimed.

o0o

Sasuke slipped quietly through Naruto's kitchen window, almost making the boy drop the bowl of ramen he was taking to the table. He waited impatiently as Naruto set the bowl on the table and promptly started shoveling it into his mouth. When he didn't stop to greet Sasuke, the dark haired boy huffed angrily and sat on the counter, folding his arms. After what seemed like forever to Sasuke's impatient mind, Naruto leaned back in his chair and patted his belly.

"Are you done know?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto looked at him like he hadn't known he was there the whole time and said, "You're here to bitch about how you're not Kakashi's favorite anymore, aren't you?"

Sasuke growled as Naruto dumped the empty bowl in the sink and dodged around his reaching hand.

"Nope!" Naruto sang, half-dancing away. "No angry sex for you! You'll only regret it later."

Sasuke scowled and said, "Then fight me."

"You just want the chance to jump me!" Naruto laughed, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"Yes," Sasuke said, jumping off the counter and advancing on the other boy. "But if I beat the shit out of you then when I fuck you senseless, I won't be angry."

Naruto dropped his arm and stared at him, astonished. "Wow," he said. "You really are angry. You haven't been this horny since-" Naruto dodged Sasuke's fist and laughed, jogging up to the roof.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimed.

o0o

Sukoshi watched as Kiba pushed Naruto against the tree and crushed his lips to the other boy's. Naruto kissed him back for a moment, then seemed to come to his senses and pushed him away. Kiba staggered back with a growl as Naruto sagged against the tree and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"What the fuck, Kiba?"

"We're both horny as hell, Naruto."

"And we're almost back to Konoha, where my boyfriend is going to want the fuck me into the ground."

Kiba pouted and said, "But he's not here _right now_ . . ."

"But I wouldn't cheat on him."

This, for reasons Sukoshi could not understand, made Kiba angry, and he threw his hands in the air to make large gesticulations and pace.

"He treats you like shit, Naruto! He beats the shit out of you, insults you, steals the spotlight-"

"And I beat the shit out of him and insult him, too. And I don't need the spotlight. I get all the attention I need from him, and Sakura, and Kakashi, and everyone else!"

"Give it up! He doesn't love you and you know it! You're just making excuses for yourself."

Naruto grew still, silent, impassive, and Sukoshi cringed.

"We should get back. Kurenai-sensei is probably getting worried."

"Naruto, wait-"

His step faltered, but he kept going.

"Goddamnit." Kiba slumped against a tree and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, as if it would burn the image of Naruto walking away. "What did I do wrong?"


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimed.

o0o

Sukoshi watched as the academy children and the newer Genin teams played quietly or slept. She'd had to leash some of the rowdier children so they stopped trying to run off and help in the battles above. The lack of ability to do jutsu so that the enemy didn't find them made it difficult, but luckily she'd learned to tie more complicated knots than the Academy students knew to deal with without a knife. One of those seemingly useless things Orochimaru had taught her. The rooky ANBU thought she was being too hard on them, but they'd never seen real war before, so she smiled and told them she had her reasons.

One day, a young girl, in her second year at the Academy, came up to her and asked, "Why did they tell you to guard us?"

"Because she wasn't good enough to be in the war, duh," said Hanabi, flicking her hair arrogantly.

Sukoshi stopped tying a senbon into her hair and chose instead to fling it at the young Hyuuga's forehead.

"It's disrespectful to insult your elders, Hanabi-san," she said, pulling the needle back to her. Then she turned to the young girl who had asked the question and said, "I guess they trusted me to make sure you were all here when the war ended."

"Why couldn't Iruka-sensei take care of use?"

"I guess they needed to help in the war and they thought I'd be enough to take you."

The girl nodded sagely in that way that young children will and said, "Do you know why we have to stay bellow the Academy?"

Sukoshi smiled and nodded. "We have to stay underground because the most effective shield we know of works best here, and if we need to relocate we don't have to move through the fighting."

The girl was silent for a moment, then said, "Sukoshi-samma, do you think they'll need you above ground?"

"I hope not," she replied. And she sincerely meant it. Because, what the academy students and Genins didn't understand was that she wasn't fighting because she was sick. And when she fought, she lost control. She had to be the only one on her side for the last fight.

It took them a month to call her to the frontlines.

o0o

So. Is it confusing yet?


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimed.

o0o

"I'm surprised they didn't imprison you, Sasuke-chan."

"I'm surprised I haven't killed you yet, Sukoshi-kohai."

Sukoshi nodded at him from the wheel-chair she'd been forced to stay in, lest Kakashi give her a new reason to use it.

"Sukoshi-chan!"

Sukoshi looked up to great Tenten.

"Hatake-samma won't let you up, huh?"

"He's terrified I'll break something."

Tenten laughed. "Humoring him is probably the best you can do. You know how father types are."

Sukoshi nodded and said, "Only too well."

Tenten laughed again, then seemed to realize that Sasuke was standing to the side and pretended she hadn't choked.

"Anyway, I made you some get-well gifts."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

"Of course. I'd better get back to Neji-kun and Lee-kun before they hurt themselves. Bye!"

"Goodbye."

No wonder her teammates hadn't wanted to tag along.

"Apparently you're still a sore spot for your peers."

"Aside from some of the ANBU, yes. And you're still as short as ever."

"You, though . . ." Sukoshi looked at him a moment, then said, "You're not as heavy as you used to be."

Sasuke gave her a blank look that translated to, 'What the fuck?'

"I trust you've been mending your relationship with Naruto-kun?"

At this Sasuke stiffened, which Sukoshi took to mean, 'It's not been easy.'

She nodded and said, "Fix it. Before I find it necessary to intervene."

Sasuke finally controlled his angered pride and said, "Who made it your job to fix everybody's problems?"

"I did." And then Sukoshi bent her head to inspect the specialized kunai Tenten had given her.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimed.

o0o

Their first high-ranked mission with Sukoshi was a success in every possible way. And then some they hadn't expected. Early C and D ranked missions proved that she knew how to wash clothes and dishes, tend and harvest gardens, and the cat that damned lady kept begging them to find followed at Sukoshi's heals. And they'd been training with her for quite some time, so they'd seen a small extent of her abilities, but really, they hadn't expected her to be so good. Then again, they hadn't been told who had raised her. So, for their first B-ranked mission with her on the team, they left to examine a possible missing nin on the border towns of Fire Country.

Sukoshi was unnaturally quiet, her gaze more blank than usual. Kakashi seemed unusually anxious, and Sukoshi'd almost cut off Naruto's hand when he tried to take the mission scroll form her. The Gennin were perplexed. By their second night on the road she was a bit more relaxed, if still not talkative. She offered to take watch for the whole night, and somehow stayed awake for the all of the next day as well. By the fourth day they reached their destination, and she still hadn't slept, and only ate dinner. Sakura was incredibly worried, as was Kakashi, though he didn't show it. Naruto was worried but pretending he wasn't, and Sasuke was glaringly suspicious. Literally.

They found a hotel and spent the day listening around. Sukoshi even took the opportunity to break her vow of silence and got a particularly talkative civilian drunk. Onlookers were certain they'd seen her have as many drinks as her companion, yet she stayed completely sober the entire night. Naruto realized it was the same reaction he had to alcohol, but refused to believe she was the same as him. No use getting your hopes up just to have them crushed, right? They spent a couple days in the town just listening, and discovered that the possibly-missing nin was staying in the rice-cellar of a dank little restaurant on the outskirts of town. They decided to watch for a week before reporting back to Konoha.

Apparently, they needn't wait that long. The missing nin, who was indeed missing and definitely a ninja, was apparently quite talented at sensing chakra, and Naruto had been more distracted than usual. The man noticed them the second night and decided that an explosive kunai through their hiding place would be the warmest welcome he could give.

With their cover blown and Sasuke and Naruto injured, there wasn't much left to do but fight, and the missing nin seemed to cherish this opportunity for a fight. He lashed out, incapacitating Naruto and Sasuke before they decided they could indeed fight. The next to go was Sakura. When the ninja decided Kakashi should be next, Sukoshi decided it was time to intervene. He was surprised, to say the least, to find the tip of a kunai poking out from between his eyebrows. Most Gennin hesitated.

Sasuke glared angrily at Sukoshi from his paralyzed place on the floor. Naruto and Sakura would have reacted, had they been conscious.

Kakashi hid his shaking hands and said genially, "This is more paperwork than I wanted to deal with."

Sukoshi bent her head, ashamed, which made Kakashi flinch. Sukoshi moved to pick up Sakura, Kakashi gathered the boys, and they returned to the hotel. The fight had been brief, the missing nin's death painless, and everyone was done with the mission. They spent two more silent-or-bickering days in the small town before they left.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimed.

o0o

There were some days that just worked. Most of the time it was just a day. If she was lucky it was almost a week. Days that worked were wonderful. They could be sunny or dark or bad or good. Mostly good. No matter the situation, she was having fun, because it was the way the universe worked that day.

Sakura giggled and went shopping with her, Naruto laughed when she dodged his latest trick (he'd long gotten over his territorialism towards the new maybe-not-quite-member of their team), and Sasuke-chan joked, not-suspiciously, in his sarcastic way. He only threw one kunai when she referred to him as a "she". Days like these were perfect, because even if they were bad, they were still the best of her life.

Days like these also scared her mindless. They were like snippets of someone else's life. They let her forget that he'd pull her back and she'd be forced to kill them all. She may just be a mindless shell, but it would still be her body. And they'd think she'd betrayed them, just like Sasuke-chan would. She didn't want these days, because they allowed her to let her guard down. They allowed her to be happy. They allowed her to be falsely at peace with herself and the world, and it was something she couldn't let happen. And people wondered why she related so well to Sasuke.


	9. Chapter 9

Nothing in this is mine, unless it is. Reviews are my lifeblood. Cancerous ones will be purged. ( should translate to: "Oh gosh you guys. Don't be dickwads.")

o0o

They'd been sent on this mission with each other because they'd been predicted to have the highest success rate. It was her first time allowed out of the village without at least one Jounin to supervise her. She'd even allowed them to slip her a tracking device. Now, in retrospect, that had probably been a bad idea. The problem with tracking devices was that one only saw that she was running further and further away from the village in the wrong direction. They could not see that she was following Naruto and Sasuke, or that they were chasing their target, not trying to slip out of the village's fingers. Their target's chakra fluctuated, pulling her out of her thoughts, and she reached forward and pulled Naruto out of the way, trusting that Sasuke would move himself in time. Several large fireballs whizzed past overhead as she broke Naruto's impact on a branch with her spine. Ouch. She couldn't do anything until she was healed – the broken spine had paralyzed her legs – but she could already feel **Z****etsumei****'**s chakra healing her. She wouldn't be out for long. Naruto flipped them around mid-air and reached for the closest branch, laid her out on it.

"Sukoshi-chan, are you okay?" he asked over the sounds of Sasuke and the target fighting.

Sukoshi nodded and said, "I'll be fine, just give me a minute. You go help Sasuke."

"But-"

"Go."

He frowned at her a moment, then leapt off the branch. He found Sasuke half-conscious on the ground not far away, held under the sharp end of a katana. Naruto didn't think, just tackled the man. They rolled around for a bit, then rolled away from each other and started trading blows. At some point Sasuke made a strangled sound and waved. Naruto, already bloodied and unthinking, turned to ask him if he was okay. Turned his back on his opponent. Later he'd find out that Sukoshi had dropped in behind him and ripped off the arm that held the katana. Then she'd grabbed the man's jaw, pulled him down to eye level, and promptly beheaded him. At the time all Naruto felt was a whoosh of air at his back. The ANBU sent to find them were surprised to find Sukoshi attending to Naruto's wounds several feet away from a body.

"What happened here?" asked one in an owl mask.

"Defense of partners. The target was close to killing Uzumaki."

"And where is Uchiha?" another asked. Sukoshi couldn't tell what his mask was supposed to be.

"I'm right here," Sasuke called as he dropped from a tree.

"Is the perimeter secure?" Sukoshi asked him. Sasuke nodded, so she turned to the ANBU and said, "Uzumaki should not be moved. I'm trained in the most basic medic skills, but this is more than I know to heal. Do you have a medic with you?"

The owl nodded and motioned one in a mouse mask forward. The ANBU knelt next to Naruto and Sukoshi stepped back, allowed herself to be questioned by the owl. It was a while after they were done that the medic deemed Naruto moveable. He was carried to the hospital by one of the ANBU who hadn't spoken, Sasuke with him to have his wounds fully healed, while the Owl and two others escorted her all the way back to Hokage Mountain. There she was tossed into a room with a tall bald man with scars across his face. He had on a long black coat and gloves and stood next to a table of sharp looking objects. He looked mildly disgusted when he looked up her.

"They're charging you with treason?"

Sukoshi barely kept her face from twisting in confusion and not-quite-yet-anger. The man shook his head.

"Fucking council and their crazy-ass paranoia," he grumbled to himself, then turned to her and said, "What level are you, anyway?"

"I'm nothing."

The man looked startled for a moment, then grinned and said, "Ah. You're the bit Kakashi-san reeled in. You're lucky, you know. If the Hokage weren't such a softy, you'd've met me much earlier."

Sukoshi scowled. "I would gladly give them information on Orochimaru if that is what they wish. I have no desire to protect him or his."

The man scowled back at her. "How long were you with him?"

"I'm not certain, he basically raised me."

"And you would sell him out, just like that?"

"If he wished me to stay silent he should not have abandoned me without so much as a parting word."

The bitter hate in Sukoshi's eyes made the man regard her with a considering look, as if he were seeing something in her he hadn't expected. He opened his mouth to ask her another question when there was a knock on the door. The Hokage entered a moment later, and the old man greeted him politely.

"Ibiki-san, if you would give me a moment. I'm sorry the council bothered you."

The man, Ibiki, smiled and nodded, said, "Thank you, Hokage-samma."

He left, and Sukoshi let Sarutobi wait in silence while she mentally scanned her surroundings for bugs or spies. When she was certain she wouldn't be overheard she said, "I thought I was welcome here, Hokage-samma."

He nodded. "You are."

"I did not know I was not allowed to leave."

"I am sorry, the council acted without my knowledge. This would not have happened if I had been aware."

Sukoshi was silent for a moment, and Sarutobi thought he saw a glimmer in her eye, but then she blinked and it was gone.

"I'd like to go home."

The Hokage nodded, and she brushed past him, out the door.

o0o

When Kakashi woke up, it was noon. Iruka was at the academy, and Sukoshi wouldn't be getting home for a couple more hours. He laid in bed a few minutes more, then got up to make himself some lunch. When he got to the living room, he paused. 'Whoa. De ja vu.' Sukoshi sat on the small step down to the kitchen, the breeze from the open window making her senbon tinkle. But then he blinked, and she was wearing bloodied clothes and not an oversized t-shirt; her eyes didn't look like they were hiding betrayal, it was laid bare.

"Sukoshi?"

And this definitely was the present, because if it had been a year ago she wouldn't be hugging him hard enough to bruise. Well then. How did he do this again?

"Ah . . . There, there. No need to cry."

Sukoshi froze, looked up at him angrily.

He smiled at her nervously and said, "And there's even less need for that." He took the kunai and put it back in her pouch.

"Shut up. You're supposed to hold me and let me cry." Then she put her head down and mumbled into his chest, "Kami, but you're a terrible father."

Which was to say she considered him a father in the first place. Well, now he wished he'd put his mask on before he got up. He didn't do sentiment. It was one of the reasons he was good at dealing with Sasuke. It was why Sukoshi was supposed to be easy to deal with, but apparently she was more willing to change than Sasuke.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimed.

o0o

Weeks later, after sparring all day with the Inuzuka's, Sukoshi fell into a pile of cousins and siblings that were hers but not. Hana sighed into her shoulder and said, "As much as we love Naruto, he never would've fit in the pack. Dogs don't do well around foxes."

"They don't do well around cat's either."

"Yes, but you're also half wolf." Sukoshi didn't reply, listened instead to everyone's breathing slow into steady, sleep laced rhythms. Everyone but Kiba.

Sukoshi waited, and waited, and then he said, "What did I do wrong?"

She let him stew in uncertainty for a bit. "You insulted his intelligence, undermined his love, tried to make him do something he didn't want to do, and made him keep secrets from Sasuke."

"Gee, I think that's the most you've said all day." Kiba's tone was full of guilty sarcasm.

"Would you like me to say more?"

Kiba huffed and slapped her thigh, then shifted to look up at her from her stomach. His eyes sparkled in the almost-gone light, the happiness gone and replaced with exhaustion and sadness. Sukoshi smiled at him with quiet understanding, pulling a hand from under his second cousin's leg to scratch the crown of Kiba's head and ruffle his hair.

"Don't tear yourself up over this," she said, averting her attention to the rising moon. "He still wants to be your friend, but he needs some trust back. Apologize to him, show him you don't plan on making a move, and be there for him when Sasuke breaks his heart, but don't try anything. Let him make the first move, but don't let him do anything before he gets his feet back under him. Don't let him break your heart because he needs a replacement for the person who broke his."

"Then you think Sasuke's bad for him too!"

"No, I never said that." Sukoshi clamped a hand over Kiba's mouth to keep him from protesting again, ignoring the feel of a wet tongue sliding over her fingers. "I think Sasuke's the best thing that's ever happened to him, and vice versa. But he's also the worst. Sasuke is like a nation that wants to be overcome but does everything in its power to make sure it isn't."

Kiba mumbled something like 'the fuck? that makes no sense.' but Sukoshi continued.

"Naruto doesn't know if he should pay attention to the begging or fighting, all he knows is that they love each other, and he's not just going to let Sasuke throw him away."

Kiba frowned and clamped a fang into Sukoshi's palm, and she let her hand draw a trail of blood down Kiba's cheek in retaliation.

"If Sasuke hurts him, I can't guarantee I won't bloody him."

"If Sasuke hurts him, it means he's too powerful for you to touch in battle."


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimed.

o0o

"Please, Danzou, give me one good reason why I shouldn't trust this girl." The Hokage leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"You are aware she spent several years as Orochimaru's charge?"

"Yes."

"Then she would obviously have a curse mark similar to Uchiha's-"

"That means nothing."

"But it does."

Danzou motioned to the guards holding Sukoshi up and, hesitantly, they turned her around and pulled down her shirt, brushing her hair, wispy and thin as it was without the senbon, from the base of her neck. Tsunade, ready to scream in outrage, simply stared at the twisting lines falling from the spiral at the base of Sukoshi's neck, dumbfounded. They wove across her back in intricate patterns, so dense in some places her skin was lost, and they seemed to writhe.

"Danzou," Tsunade said as she bent to reach for something under her desk. "Take your men and leave us. I don't want to see you for the rest of the day."

Danzou bowed and motioned for the guards to drop the girl, which they did brutally, and they left.

Tsunade sighed and walked around her desk with a medic kit, kneeling next to the half-bloodied girl on the floor. She rolled Sukoshi over and started probing for internal injuries, said, "Do you know why they beat you?"

"Why should you trust me?"

"Why should I trust you?" Tsunade looked at Sukoshi's face, startled. "Why should you trust me?"

Sukoshi nodded, cleared her throat, went on. "You are neither the man who brought me here, nor the man who welcomed me. Nor have you been able to prove to me yet that I should trust you with my secrets."

"Naruto trusts me."

"Naruto also trusted Sasuke."

Tsunade thought for a moment. A lot of people had trusted Sasuke.

"Jaraiya trusts me."

"Jaraiya-san sees that I am pretty and powerful, and that is all. The man is worse than Naruto when it comes to sense."

Tsunade scowled and said, "So then what is it I need to do?"

"You need to swear to me, on Naruto and the necklace you gave him, that you will trust me in all my future actions. Know that they have good reason that will benefit Konoha."

"What?"

"I won't tell you unless you swear. This is bigger than you, bigger than Konoha."

Tsunade hissed, angry that she'd been pushed to such extremes, but she'd never seen or heard the girl lie by anything but omission, and if it was true something was happening, or going to happen, it was indeed bigger than all the people of the hidden villages.

"Fine. I swear."

Sukoshi nodded, began. "Orochimaru-samma took me in, he gave me this curse seal, but I don't think he ever expected to keep me for long. He attached a jutsu that activated when he didn't need me anymore, so that I could never turn against him."

"How?"

"I'm just rash. Trash rots, right?"

Tsunade looked at her, half-horrified and completely unsurprised. "Cancer."

Sukoshi nodded. "But not normal cancer. It's eating my chakra and replacing it with **Z****etsumei**'s. She'll take over and kill everybody again. If my actions aren't enough to stop this, you have to convince Naruto to kill me."

"He would never do that. He wouldn't be able to."

"He will."

Tsunade looked at her, long and hard, then sighed. "I have to assign you two ANBU captains. When you leave here go straight to Kakashi. You have permission to use force on Danzou-san and his men if they ever attack you again. But I want none dead between now and when you take these 'necessary actions.'"

Sukoshi nodded and pushed herself to her feet. "Thank you for healing me, Hokage-samma."

"Yeah, yeah. Now get outta here, brat."

Sukoshi bowed slightly and left.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimed.

Also, I did mention at the very beginning that this would not be in chronological order. In truth when I write a fic it isn't ever in chronological order, but I tend to post it that way so that things make sense. This fic, however, is posted in the order in which I wrote it. This is one of those chapters that won't make any sense until you read one of the later chapters, but I'm not going to put that chapter up first because I'm sticking to my plan. And kind of just being lazy. Anyway, have fun with it, and don't let it confuse you too much 'cause it should make sense in future chapters.

o0o

And then, one day, the reason came to light. Sasuke walked onto the bridge early in the morning, just ahead of Naruto and Sakura. Then he stopped, turned around and walked away. Which was something he'd only ever done before with Naruto.

When Sakura stepped onto the bridge she paused, sighed, and said, "Good morning, Sukoshi-san Where is Kakashi-sensei?"

"He told me to tell you he got stopped by a dolphin." She said quietly from her place of lounging half-off the bridge.

Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"And that after that he's getting stopped by some kind of monster."

"Is that so?"

Sukoshi nodded. "He should be here in another two hours or so."

Sakura huffed and sat down on the bridge. A butterfly fluttered around her head as if to comfort her. Sakura noted it was made of chakra, manipulated by Sukoshi. It looked like the girl did this for fun, but she knew that the best of the best in chakra control in Konoha struggled with the exercise. Not far away Sakura heard Naruto laugh delightedly, then yelp as – presumably – Sasuke smacked him upside the head.

"Well, I guess we've got some time."

"I suppose. Would you like to learn this?"

Sakura half-flushed shyly. She was always surprised when Sukoshi graced her words. She rarely talked to anyone other than Kakashi or Iruka, and then she turned around and treated Sakura like a normal friend.

"Isn't it hard thought?"

"Only if you can't concentrate or don't have chakra control. I doubt Sasuke or Naruto would ever be able to master it."

Sakura beamed happily as Sukoshi instructed her to sit and meditate on bringing chakra to her hands.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimed. Reviews keep me writing as much as candy does. I looked back at some of the earlier chapters 'cause I was confused, and realized I've twisted the timeline a bit. In this the rooky 9 are 12 when they graduate from the Academy, and Naruto and Sasuke are 14 or 15 when the fight and Sasuke leaves. I realize this probably makes everything even more confusing, and I'm greatly sorry. Just imagine they had a couple extra years of training, and it'll make everything easier to imagine.

o0o

In the morning Kakashi woke up with a small warmth curled around his hand instead of the large warmth curled around his whole body that he was used to. The creature's breath ghosted softly across his elbow, warm and gentle. The smell wafting from the rest of his small apartment was reminiscent of mirukurepu and takoyaki. Silently, he wondered why Iruka hadn't woken him up, remembered that he still had some odd kind of creature attached to his arm. He blinked and rolled his head to the side, almost groaned when he saw Sukoshi. He wasn't wearing his mask. He'd worked with the other Jounins and the ANBU for years and none of them had seen his face. He'd been training Team 7 for maybe a year and, despite their antics, they'd never seen his face either. Yet this girl, who he didn't know – who had been forced upon him – had likely gotten a good long look at it. How had he let this happen? Carefully, so as not to wake her, Kakashi pulled his arm from beneath Sukoshi's head and wandered into the kitchen. Iruka was standing in front of the stove in his Jounin pants and Kakashi's mesh shirt, his hair falling around his shoulders. He hummed a random tune as he moved mirukurepu off the stove and poured more batter into the pan.

"You didn't wake me up," Kakashi said, stealing a piece of takoyaki from a plate.

Iruka swatted at his hand half-heartedly and said, "I didn't."

"You should have," Kakashi said, trying to stay annoyed. It never worked with Iruka, but at least he could try.

"But the two of you looked so comfortable."

"She shouldn't have been there in the first place." Which reminded him. "You invited her into my bed."

"It's my bed too, and you're the one that changed your mind about having kids."

Kakashi started to protest, realized it would be useless, and rolled his eyes instead.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimed.

o0o

"No. I go with Kakashi-otosan."

"Sukoshi, please-" Shizune started, but was cut off.

"It's fine Shizune-san." Iruka looked at Sukoshi tenderly and smiled. "She's more Kakashi's and Itachi's than she's ever been anyone else's, and I wouldn't have it any other way. They're the only two that could ever understand her. The rest of us can only watch and trust."

"You've influenced me more than you think you have," Sukoshi said by way of thank you, then bowed to Iruka and Shizune and left through the window. Iruka laughed. He could probably count on one hand the times she'd used a doorway to walk through. Shizune gave him a look, but he shook his head, and they hurried on, Iruka to evacuate the school and Shizune to help Tsunade in the hospital.


	15. Chapter 15

Oh gosh you guys I don't own anything, unless its mine. I really like it when I get reviews, but not when people are assholes. Enjoy!

o0o

Mrs. Haruno opened the door with a smile.

"May I help you?"

"Yes, I'm a friend of Sakura's. I trained on her team for a while. I heard she was upset and came to see if there was anything I could do for her."

"That's very nice of you. She's right this way."

Mrs. Haruno took her to Sakura's room and she was ushered inside quietly, the door closing behind her.

"He left," Sakura said when her mother was out of earshot.

"I know."

"And Naruto's gone, too, now."

Sukoshi nodded and sat down next to Sakura on her bed.

"Why?"

Sukoshi was silent for a moment. "Because Sasuke is broken inside, and it feels safe for him to not love. Leaving is proof, to him, that he is safe and powerful and can accomplish his goal. Naruto left to prove that love is stronger."

"But they'll never love me." A tear fell from Sakura's eye, then another.

"Don't say that. They both love you. Naruto may love you more than Sasuke, to an outsider, but he doesn't. They both love you equally, in different ways, and they love each other in a different way again."


End file.
